Winston joins many other cities in pot shop ban

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WINSTON, Ore. -- On Monday night, members of Winston's city council passed a one year moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in a 4-1 vote.

Of the four Winston city councilors, only Christie Glen-Knutson voted against the temporary ban.

City Manager David VanDermark said she was trying to help those that did not feel OK about going before the council. "She explained she was voicing her opinion for those who weren't comfortable coming forward to argue for medical marijuana dispensaries, but are users of medical marijuana," he said.

According to VanDermark, there aren't any dispensaries or collectives in Winston.

He says that's because the city's business license ordinance prohibits shops from opening that violate federal, state or local law.

The city council opted for the one year ban beginning next month.

Scott Gugel, the Chief of Police, says it gives them time to figure out how the shops would affect the town. "It gives us some breathing room to, quite honestly, kind of figure out how these medical marijuana dispensaries are going to go," he said.